A July Fourth reading list

In celebration of July Fourth, Printers Row set out to create a reading list of patriotic books. But, how to define "patriotic"? We decided to have each contributing Tribune writer and editor pick a title that corresponds to his or her own definition. Choose a title that matches your own — or one that may expand your view of what it means to be patriotic.

"The Little House on the Prairie" series by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1932-1943)

This series is a classic slice of Americana, complete with tales of hardship, gumption and, well, the prairie. (And what could be more American than that?) Laura Ingalls Wilder remains a plucky American hero, and kids today still fall in love with the books.

This land is your land, this land is my land, but nobody wrote about the land like John Steinbeck (1902-1968) did in "Travels With Charley: In Search of America," the Nobel Prize-winning author's crooked valentine to the United States. In 1960 he hit the road in a camper, armed with a poodle named Charlie and a promise to himself: He would dig out the true soul of this complicated nation. You'll never feel more patriotic than you do when reading Steinbeck's rambling, muscular view of our homeland, its highways and its prairies, its rivers and its contradictions. It's tough love, literary-style.

An article published this spring claims that Steinbeck tinkered with the facts of his trip, but the real America has always been at least 75 percent myth, anyway; we're constituted by dreams and ambitions as much as we are by skyscrapers and acreage. Hitch a ride with Steinbeck and Charlie, and you'll wave the flag with more vigor than ever before.

Personally, any gardening book that celebrates a region's native plants exemplifies patriotism to me. They celebrate the plants that belong in our landscape, that nourish our birds and bugs (OK, and sometimes help them eat each other) and create sustainable landscapes. One wonderful example among many: "Design Your Natural Midwest Garden" by Patricia Hill, a terrific read with plenty of designs for many garden situations.

The first book that comes to mind on the subject of patriotism for me is the classic novel for young readers and 1947 Newbery Medal winner, "Johnny Tremain." Set in Revolutionary War era-Boston, "Johnny Tremain" is the story of a young boy who, after a series of events, goes to work for the Boston Observer, where he is introduced to the world of Boston politics at the height of tensions between Whigs and Torries. The book explores American history, political strife, and life at the time of our country's revolution. It tells stories of the Boston Tea Party, the British blockade, key battles in the Revolutionary War, and Paul Revere and other historical figures in a very human and relatable way that readers young and young-at-heart are sure to find entertaining.

This account of the Watergate scandal shows that patriotism can have many faces, and that those who wrap themselves in the flag are often the worst enemies of democracy, truth and freedom.

— William Hageman, Tribune reporter

"Judy" by Gerold Frank (1999)

What could be more American than the life story of Judy Garland, the girl who captured a country's hearts when she sang "Over the Rainbow" in the 1939 movie "The Wizard of Oz"? This exhaustive biography amply traces the arc of that life: a girl born in small-town Minnesota as Frances Gumm who became a larger-than-life star, then died tragically, of "an incautious self-overdose" of sleeping pills (according to the coroner), just before her 47th birthday. Garland's tempestuous life, which encompassed outsized musical and acting talent, triumphant star turns and heart-wrenching failures, struggles with substance abuse and psychological upheaval, is an apt metaphor for the best — and worst — America has to offer.

Growing up outside Philadelphia meant a red, white and blue Independence Day with chocolate liberty bells, crepe paper bikes and visits to the homes of Betsy Ross and Ben Franklin.

More recently, the mention of Independence Day summons tales of embattled Jeff Goldblum and Will Smith in the sci-fi drama.

For me — guess what — it's a book titled "Independence Day." And if you're looking for something to read this weekend, pick up this 1996 Pulitzer Prize winner. Richard Ford's sequel to "The Sportswriter," "Independence Day" follows his everyman, Ralph Bascombe, through a July Fourth weekend. Bascombe sells real estate — perfect for the '90s — and as he wanders around in his life, and head, over the odyssey of a three-day weekend, comes to share the literary ground of Willy Loman and Harry Angstrom. This is an American classic, and it deserves the fireworks of the holiday.

"The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery" by Eric Foner (2010)

In history textbooks Abraham Lincoln is known as the Great Emancipator, but in "The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery," 2011 Pulitzer Prize-winner in history, Eric Foner re-examines historical texts and reveals that Lincoln's views on slavery were much more nuanced.

Politically Lincoln stayed in the middle when dealing with the issue, writes Foner, the DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University. He was a staunch supporter of the Missouri Comprise, the agreement that prohibited slavery's expansion north, yet he also backed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which gave harsh penalties to those who assisted runaway slaves. He consistently fought the westward expansion of slavery, but supported the American Colonization Society's program to send freed slaves to colonize Liberia, as he questioned their ability to live in social equality with whites.

But Lincoln was nothing if not a politician, and he strove to discover an answer to the question of slavery that would appeal to everyone, eventually making the choice to support emancipation. Throughout the book readers will find Lincoln listening intently to the arguments on both sides, taking them in and reflecting — a trait I find to be the height of patriotism and a characteristic that cemented Lincoln as one of the greatest presidents in American history.

Studs Terkel's "The Good War," the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction in 1985, is a detailed, gut-wrenching and heartbreaking examination of the tremendous cost of war and the courage and sacrifice of those, at home and at the front, fighting and suffering for the cost of freedom.

For many people, the story of the United States begins on July 4, 1776. Richter reminds us that the tale actually extends back many millennia and involves more than one continent. Reading this "back story" makes it clear that what ultimately emerged as the USA was not divinely preordained, as our 19th century forefathers once thought, but was instead a product of luck, greed, faith, memory, technology and hunger.

"State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America" edited by Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey (2008)

It's a mystery why this hasn't become a contemporary classic. The book is a loving tribute to the old, idiosyncratic Works Progress Administration tour guides of the mid-20th century, with a clever twist: Each state gets a short, personal piece from an acclaimed writer, and the contributors are remarkable: Jhumpa Lahiri on Rhode Island, Dave Eggers on Illinois, Susan Orlean on Ohio. Jonathan Franzen "interviews" the state of New York. The filmmaker Alexander Payne ("Sideways") takes on his native Nebraska. And so on. I loved this book so much, it took me a year to read it — whenever I came within sight of finishing, I put it way, for fear of finishing.

— Chris Borrelli, Tribune reporter

"Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and The War Years" by Carl Sandburg(1954)

Because Sandburg is the author, and Lincoln is the subject. A sublime equation if ever there were one.

According to Time magazine, "Included in this anthology is abolitionist Frederick Douglass' speech, "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" — perhaps one of the best articulations of the African-American struggle to embrace patriotism in a country that has not always fully embraced them as a people."